Card ejecting mechanism

ABSTRACT

A card forcible ejection mechanism used to forcibly discharge a card retained in a card reader, having is a mechanism which can be set in a small space and can be attached on a post-assembling step and comprising: a carriage ( 7 ) which can move along a carriage direction of a card ( 3 ) and is provided separately from a card carrying device ( 5 ); at least one claw ( 8 ) which is provided to the carriage ( 7 ) and can protrude/retract to/from a card carriage path ( 4 ); a carriage moving device ( 9 ) for moving the carriage ( 7 ) to a claw retracting position ( 11 ) and a claw protruding position ( 12 ); and a claw protruding/retracting mechanism ( 10 ) which retracts the claw ( 8 ) from the card carriage path ( 4 ) when the carriage ( 7 ) is placed at the claw retracting position ( 11 ), and protrudes the claw ( 8 ) to the card carriage path ( 4 ) when the carriage ( 7 ) is placed at the claw protruding position ( 12 ).

TECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] The present invention relates to a card forcible ejectionmechanism provided to a card reader using a card having a magneticstripe, an IC card, or various kinds of cards on which information canbe recorded. More particularly, the present invention relates,to a cardforcible ejection mechanism used to forcibly eject a card retainedinside a card reader.

BACKGROUND ART

[0002] If a card to be inserted into a card reader is a normal cardwithout a deformation or a stain, carriage of the card in the cardreader can be performed without causing any problem. However, when adeformed card or a stained card is inserted into the card reader, aso-called jam that the card is retained in a card carriage path mayoccur, and the card cannot be processed in some cases.

[0003] Further, even in case of a normal card, the jam may occur if aperson who tries to steal any other person's card manipulates a part ofthe card reader in the vicinity of a card insertion opening thereof. Inthis case, even if the card generates the jam and the card owner leavesthere, it is difficult to take out the card when a shutter of the cardinsertion opening is completely closed. Therefore, a possibility of atheft is small. However, when the card stays in a movement range of theshutter and the shutter cannot closes because it is in contact with thecard, the card may be possibly taken out after the card owner leavesthere.

[0004] Thus, a card forcible ejection mechanism has been conventionallyprovided in the card reader on the assumption that the card generatesthe jam. FIG. 11 shows an example of the conventional card forcibleejection mechanism in the card reader. In the drawing, three pairs ofcarriage rollers 82, 84 and 86 are arranged from a card insertionopening 88 side toward an inner side in the mentioned order atappropriately intervals with a card carriage path 80 between each pair.Therefore, a card inserted from the card insertion opening 88 issequentially carried toward the inner side by the carriage roller pairs82, 84 and 86, and predetermined processing, i.e., reading or writing ofrecording information is carried out.

[0005] A card forcible ejection mechanism is provided along the entirearea of the card carriage path 80 below the card carriage path 80. Thiscard forcible ejection mechanism includes: sprockets 92 and 94 arrangedso as to be opposed to each other on the card insertion opening 88 sideand the inner side of the card carriage path 80 and; a chain 90 woundaround the respective sprockets 92 and 94; and a craw 91 disposed to apart of the chain 90. The upper portion of the chain 90 is positioned inparallel with the card carriage path 80 in the vicinity of the cardcarriage path 80.

[0006] When the card is not retained, the chain 90 is not driven, andthe craw 91 is retracted from the card carriage path 80 as shown in FIG.11. When it is detected that the card generated the jam, at least one ofthe sprockets 92 and 94 is rotated and driven, the chain 90 is turned,the craw 91 is raised in the card carriage path 80, and the card causingthe jam is forcibly thrusted toward the card insertion opening 88 or therear side.

[0007] Here, when the sprockets 92 and 94 are rotated in the clockwisedirection in the drawing at the time of occurrence of the jam, the cardis ejected from the card insertion opening 88. Furthermore, when thesprockets 92 and 94 are rotated in the counterclockwise direction in thedrawing, the card is carried to a card disposition box (not shown)provided on the inner side of the card reader to be collected.

[0008] However, in the above-described card forcible ejection mechanism,since the chain 90 is provided over the entire area of the card carriagepath 80 in order to feed the card retained in the card carriage path 80to the card insertion opening 88 or the card disposition box, an emptyspace may be insufficient and the card forcible ejection mechanism maynot be provided depending on a structure of the card reader. Moreover,since the card forcible ejection mechanism has a large size that itextends over the entire area of the card carriage path 80, it is verydifficult to provide this mechanism to the card reader on apost-assembling step as an option.

[0009] Thus, it is an object of the present invention to provide a cardforcible ejection mechanism which can be installed in a small space andprovided to a card reader on a post-assembling step as an option.

DISCLOSURE OF INVENTION

[0010] To achieve this aim, according to the present invention, there isprovided a card forcible ejection mechanism which is provided to a cardreader including a card carrying means for carrying a card inserted froma card insertion opening in a card carriage path, and forcibly ejectsthe card retained in the card carriage path, comprising: a carriagewhich is movable in a carriage direction of the card and providedseparately from the card carrying means; at least one claw which isprovided to the carriage and can protrude/retract to/from the cardcarriage path; a carriage moving means for moving the carriage to a clawretracting position and a claw protruding position; and a clawprotruding/retracting mechanism which retracts the claw from the cardcarriage path when the carriage is positioned at the claw retractingposition and protrudes the claw in the card carriage path when thecarriage is positioned at the claw protruding position.

[0011] Therefore, since the card forcible ejection mechanism can be setonly in the vicinity of the card insertion opening so as to dischargethe card retained in the card reader to the card insertion opening, thecard forcible ejection mechanism does not have to be provided over theentire card carriage path, thereby reducing the card forcible ejectionmechanism in size. Accordingly, even if the card reader with a smallempty space is used, the card forcible ejection mechanism can beprovided thereto.

[0012] Moreover, the entire card forcible ejection mechanism accordingto the present invention is realized as a unit, and it is attached tothe card reader. In this case, it can be provided to the card reader ona post-assembling step as an option.

[0013] Additionally, in the present invention, the card carrying meansincludes carriage rollers, and the entire card forcible ejectionmechanism may be accommodated between the adjacent carriage rollers inthe carriage direction. In this case, the card forcible ejectionmechanism realized as a unit can be accommodated within the card readerwithout producing a wasteful space. Therefore, the card reader can bereduced in size.

[0014] Further, in the present invention, the shutter which opens andcloses the card insertion opening is provided, and the claw protrudingposition is arranged on the shutter side away from the claw retractingposition so that the card may be forcibly discharged only when theshutter cannot be closed because it is in contact with the retainedcard.

[0015] In this case, since discharging the card only when the retainedcard obstructs the closing operation of the shutter can suffice, thecard forcible ejection mechanism can be provided only in the vicinity ofthe shutter. As a result, the card forcible ejection mechanism does nothave to be provided over the entire card carriage path, and the cardforcible-ejection mechanism can be reduced in size.

[0016] Further, since the retained card is immediately discharged andreturned to a user when the shutter is not closed, it is possible toprevent a stranger from stealing the card when the card is retained withthe shutter being not closed and a user walks away from the card reader.

[0017] Furthermore, in the present invention, the claw retracted fromthe card carriage path and the shutter may be separated from each otherby a distance corresponding to a length of at least one card in thecarriage direction. In this case, the claw can be necessarily broughtinto contact with a rear end of the card retained at a position of theshutter.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0018]FIG. 1 is a schematic side view showing a card reader on which acard forcible ejection mechanism according to the present invention ismounted;

[0019]FIG. 2 is a side view showing a card forcible ejection mechanism;

[0020]FIG. 3 is a plane view showing a drive system of pulleys of acarriage moving means;

[0021]FIG. 4 is a side view showing a carriage and a claw;

[0022]FIG. 5 is a front view showing the carriage and the claw;

[0023]FIG. 6 is a plane view showing a card forcible ejection mechanism;

[0024]FIG. 7 is a side view showing another embodiment of a cardforcible ejection mechanism;

[0025]FIG. 8 is a side view showing a state that the carriage of thecard forcible ejection mechanism depicted in FIG. 7 is placed at a clawretracting position;

[0026]FIG. 9 is a side view showing a state that the claw of the cardforcible ejection mechanism depicted in FIG. 7 is protruding to the cardcarriage path;

[0027]FIG. 10 is a side view showing a state lo that the claw of thecard forcible ejection mechanism depicted in FIG. 7 thrusts a card; and

[0028]FIG. 11 is a side view showing a conventional card forcibleejection mechanism.

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

[0029] A structure of the present invention will now be described indetail hereinafter based on an example of the illustrated mode. FIGS. 1to 6 show an embodiment of a card forcible ejection mechanism 1according to the present invention. This card forcible ejectionmechanism 1 is provided to a card reader 6 including a card carryingmeans 5 for carrying a card 3 inserted from a card inserting opening 2in a card carriage path 4, and forcibly ejects the card 3 retained inthe card carriage path 4. This card forcible ejection mechanism 1includes a carriage 7 which can move in a carriage direction of the card3 and is provided separately from the card carrying means 5, at leastone claw 8 which can protrude/retract to/from the card carriage path 4,carriage moving means 9 for moving the carriage 7, and a clawprotruding/retracting mechanism 10 which protrudes/retracts the clawto/from the card carriage path 4. Further, the entire card forcibleejection mechanism 1 is realized as a unit, and can be attached to thecard reader 6. Therefore, the card forcible ejection mechanism 1 can beattached to the card reader 6 on a post-assembling step as an option.Furthermore, since the card forcible ejection mechanism 1 can be setonly in the vicinity of the card insertion opening 2 so that the card 3retained in the card reader 6 can be discharged from the card insertionopening 2, the card forcible ejection mechanism 1 does not have to beprovided over the entire card carriage path 4, thereby reducing the cardforcible ejection mechanism 1 in size. In this embodiment, the cardforcible ejection mechanism 1 is arranged on an upper side of the cardcarriage path 4.

[0030] The carriage moving means 9 moves the carriage 7 to a clawretracting position 11 and a claw protruding position 12. The clawretracting position 11 of the carriage 7 is such a position as that theclaw 8 is retracted from the card carriage path 4. Moreover, the clawprotruding position 12 of the carriage 7 is such a position as that theclaw 8 protrudes to the card carriage path 4. As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3,this carriage moving means 9 includes pulleys 13 and 13 which have thesame diameter and are arranged at two positions, i.e., the vicinity ofthe card insertion opening 2 and the inner side parallel to the cardcarriage path 4, a wire 14 which are stretched around the respectivepulleys 13 and 13 and to which the carriage 7 is attached, a gear 16which meshes with a gear portion 15 of one pulley 13, and a drive motor18 having a pinion 17 which meshes with the gear 16. The pulleys 13, thegear 16 and the drive motor. 18 are attached to a frame 19. Therefore,the card forcible ejection mechanism 1 consists of components which aredirectly or indirectly disposed to the frame 19, and the entire cardforcible ejection mechanism 1 can be handled as a unit.

[0031] As the drive motor 18, a stepping motor is adopted. However, thepresent invention is not restricted thereto, and a direct-current motormay be employed as the drive motor 18. The wire 14 is wound around eachpulley 13 for a plurality of number of turns. As a result, slippage ofthe wire 14 relative to the pulleys 13 can be avoided.

[0032] As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the carriage 7 includes a fixed groove20 which is fixed to a linear portion 14a of the wire 14 on the cardcarriage path 4 side, and a guide hole 21 provided to a linear portion14 b of the wire 14 on the opposite side so as to be capable of sliding.Furthermore, the linear portion 14 a of the wire 14 on the card carriagepath 4 side is fitted in and fixed to the fixed groove 20 of thecarriage 7, and the linear portion 14 b of the wire 14 on the oppositeside pierces the guide hole 21 of the carriage 7 so as to be capable ofsliding. As a result, since the carriage 7 is supported by the parallelwire 14, rotation is avoided, and the carriage 7 is moved in accordancewith movement of the linear portion 14 a of the wire 14 on the cardcarriage path 4 side while maintaining a standing posture.

[0033] One claw 8 is provided to the carriage 7. In this embodiment, oneclaw 8 is provided, but the present invention is not restricted thereto.The claw 8 is rotatably attached to the carriage 7 around a supportshaft 22. To an end portion of the claw 8 are formed a contact portion 8a which comes into contact with a rear end 3 a of the card 3 and aprotrusion 8 b which prevents the card 3 which is in contact with thecontact portion 8 a from slipping and coming off. Moreover, arestriction hole 23 which is a through hole having an arc shape with thesupport shaft 22 as the center is formed to a part of the claw 8. Arestriction pin 24 fixed to the carriage 7 is inserted into thisrestriction hole 23. Therefore, a rotation range of the claw 8 is arange reaching a state that the end portion of the restriction hole 23comes into contact with the restriction pin 24.

[0034] A craw protruding/retracting mechanism 10 retracts the claw 8from the card carriage path 4 when the carriage 7 is placed at a clawretracting position 11, and protrudes the claw 8 to the card carriagepath 4 when the claw 8 is placed at a claw protruding position 12. Thisclaw protruding/retracting mechanism 10 includes an impetus givingspring 25 which is a torsion coil spring to press the claw 8 in adirection along which the claw 8 protrudes to the card carriage path 4and is provided to the support shaft 22 of the claw 8, a contact portion26 integrally formed with the claw 8, and an impingement end 27 which isformed to the frame 19 as shown in FIGS. 2 and 6 and comes into contactwith the contact portion 26 and retracts the claw 8 from the cardcarriage path 4 when the carriage 7 is placed at the claw retractingposition 11. Therefore, when the carriage 7 is placed at the clawprotruding position 12, since the contact portion 26 and the impingementend 27 are distanced from each other, the claw 8 is caused to protrudeto the card carriage path 4 by the impetus giving spring 25. Moreover,when the carriage 7 is placed at the claw retracting position 11, sincethe contact portion 26 comes into contact with the impingement end 27,the claw 8 is rotated against the impetus giving spring 25 and retractedfrom the card carriage path 4.

[0035] As shown in FIG. 1, the card carrying means 5 includes driverollers 28 and pad rollers 29 which are arranged so as to be opposed toeach other with the card carriage path 4 therebetween, and a drive motor30 coupled with the drive rollers 28 through a belt (not shown).Additionally, a position sensor (not shown) which detects a position ofthe card 3 is provided to the card carriage path 4.

[0036] Further, the entire cad forcible ejection mechanism 1 isaccommodated between the roller pairs 28 and 29 which are adjacent toeach other in the carriage direction. Therefore, the card forcibleejection mechanism 1 realized as a unit can be accommodated in the cardreader 6 without making a wasteful space, thereby restricting anincrease in size of the card reader 6.

[0037] Furthermore, a shutter 31 which opens/closes the card insertionopening 2 is provided to this card reader 6. Moreover, the clawprotruding position 12 is arranged on the shutter 31 side away from theclaw retracting position 11. Additionally, this card forcible ejectionmechanism 1 forcibly ejects the card 3 when the shutter 31 is in contactwith the retained card 3 and cannot be closed. Therefore, the cardforcible ejection mechanism 1 can be provided only in the vicinity ofthe shutter 31, and the card forcible ejection mechanism 1 does not haveto be provided over the entire card carriage path 4, thereby reducing asize of the card forcible ejection mechanism 1. Further, in cases wherethe card 3 is retained with the shutter 31 being closed, if the rear end3 a of the card 3 is in the operation range of the claw 8, the shutter31 is opened to operate the card forcible ejection mechanism 1, and thecard 3 is discharged.

[0038] Furthermore, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the claw 8 retracted fromthe card carriage path 4 and the shutter 31 are separated from eachother by a distance corresponding to a length L of at least one card 3in the carriage direction. Therefore, the claw 8 can be assuredlybrought into contact with the rear end 3 a of the retained card 3 whichoverlaps a position of the shutter 31. In this embodiment L isdetermined as a length of one card 3. Thus, the card forcible ejectionmechanism 1 can be prevented from being increased in size. However, thelength of one card 3 not only means a card length in the strict sensebut includes a length obtained by adding a tolerance to this length.

[0039] The operation of the above-described card forcible ejectionmechanism 1 will now be described.

[0040] When the card reader 6 is in the standby state, the carriage 7 ofthe card forcible ejection mechanism 7 is placed at the claw retractingposition 11, and the claw 8 is retracted from the card carriage path 4as indicated by solid lines in FIGS. 1 and 2. Then, when the card 3 isinserted into the card insertion opening 2, the card 3 is detected bythe position sensor and carried to the inner side by the card carryingmeans 5. At this moment, since the claw 8 is retracted from the cardcarriage path 4, the card 3 can pass through the card carriage path 4without coming into contact with the claw 8. Moreover, when the entirecard 3 is taken into the card reader 6, the shutter 31 is closed.

[0041] Then, when the card 3 is retained in the card carriage path 4because the card 3 has a defect such as a bend or a person who tries tosteal a stranger's card 3 manipulated the card reader 6, retention ofthe card 3 is detected from the operation state of the drive motor 30and the detection state of the position sensor. At this moment, if it isdetected that the card 3 is placed at a position overlapping the shutter31 and the shutter 31 should be closed but it is actually opened, it isjudged that the shutter 31 is in contact with the card 3 and cannot beclosed, and the card forcible ejection mechanism 1 is operated.Alternatively, if it is detected that the shutter 31 is closed and therear end 3 a of the card 3 is within the operation range of the claw 8,the shutter 31 is opened, and the card forcible ejection mechanism 1 isoperated.

[0042] In the card forcible ejection mechanism 1, the drive motor 18 isoperated to rotate the wire 14 through the gear 16 and the pulleys 13,and moves the carriage 7 from the claw retracting position 11 to theclaw protruding position 12. As a result, as indicated by chaindouble-dashed lines in FIGS. 1 and 2, the claw 8 protrudes to the cardcarriage path 4 and comes into contact with the rear end 3 a of the card3, thereby discharging the card 3 from the card insertion opening 2.Therefore, since the card 3 retained in the state that the shutter 31 isnot closed is immediately discharged and returned to a user, it ispossible to prevent the card 3 from being retained with the shutter 3being not closed and a stranger from stealing the card 3 when the userwalks away from the card reader 6.

[0043] As described above, according to the card forcible ejectionmechanism 1 of this embodiment, since the card forcible ejectionmechanism 1 is provided only in the vicinity of the card insertionopening 2, the card forcible ejection mechanism 1 can be reduced in sizeas compared with a case that the card forcible ejection mechanism 1 isprovided over the entire card carriage path 4 like the prior art.

[0044] It is to be noted that the above-described embodiment is anexample of the preferred mode of the present invention, but the presentinvention is not restricted thereto, and various modifications can becarried out. For example, although the claw 8 retracted from the cardcarriage path 4 and the shutter 31 are arranged so as to be separatedfrom each other by a distance corresponding to a length L of one card 3in this embodiment, the present invention is not restricted thereto, andany other length may be adopted. For example, the length L may be set soas to extend the entire area of the card carriage path 4, or it may beset shorter than the card length.

[0045] Furthermore, although the wire 14 is wound around the pulleys 13for a plurality of number of turns in this embodiment, the presentinvention is not restricted thereto, and teeth may be provided to eachpulley 13 and a timing belt may be wound therearound. In this case,slippage of each pulley 13 and the wire 14 can be likewise avoided.Moreover, the present invention is not restricted to winding the wire 14or the timing belt around the pulleys 13, and a part of the wire 14 maybe fixed to the pulleys 13. In this case, a fixing position isdetermined so as to assure a necessary operation range of the carriage7. According to this, slippage of the wire 14 can be further suppressed.

[0046] Additionally, in each of the foregoing embodiments, although thecarriage 7 is guided to the linear portion 14 b which is away from thecard carriage path 4 of the wire 14 and the posture is maintained, thepresent invention is not restricted thereto, and a guide shaft parallelto the card carriage path 4 may be provided so that the carriage 7 canbe guided thereto.

[0047] Further, in the foregoing embodiments, although the card forcibleejection mechanism 1 is arranged on the upper side of the card carriagepath 4, the present invention is not restricted thereto, and the cardforcible ejection mechanism 1 may be arranged on the lower side of thecard carriage path 4.

[0048] Furthermore, in the foregoing embodiments, although the cardforcible ejection mechanism 1 is provided in the vicinity of the cardinsertion opening 2, it may be provided in the vicinity of a carddisposition box (not shown) provided on the inner side of the cardreader 6 according to circumstances. In this case, the claw protrudingposition 12 is arranged on the card disposition box side away from theclaw retracting position 11. As a result, when the card 3 is retractedin the inner part of the card reader 6, the card 3 can be dischargedinto the card disposition box.

[0049] Furthermore, in the foregoing embodiments, the shutter 31 isopened and the card 3 is discharged when the card 3 is retained if theshutter 31 is closed and the rear end 3 a of the card 3 is in theoperation range of the claw 8. However, the present invention is notrestricted thereto, and the card forcible ejection mechanism 1 may notbe operated when the shutter 31 is closed even though retention of thecard 3 is detected. In this case, since the shutter 31 is closed andstealing the card 3 is very difficult, a possibility of a theft is smalleven though the card forcible ejection mechanism 1 is not operated.

[0050] Moreover, although the carriage 7 is supported by the wire 14which moves the carriage 7 so as to be capable of sliding in each of theforegoing embodiments, a support structure of the carriage 7 is notrestricted thereto. For example, as shown in FIGS. 7 to 10, the carriage7 may be supported by a guide rail 32 fixed to the frame 19 so as to becapable of sliding.

[0051] In this case, the carriage 7 includes respective pairs of rollers33, i.e., four sets of rollers in total, capable of rotating with theguide rail 32 therebetween, which are distanced from each other on theright and left sides in the longitudinal direction of the guide rail 32.Further, the carriage 7 includes a fixed piece 34 fixed to the wire 14of carriage moving means (not shown in FIGS. 7 to 10) 9. It is to benoted that a pair of the rollers 33 are provided so as to sandwich theguide rail 32 in this embodiment, the present invention is notrestricted thereto, and it is good enough to provide at least therollers 33 on which a reactive force acts when the claw 8 discharges thecard 3, i.e., the roller 33 close to the claw 8 which is a roller 33 aset on the claw 8 side with the guide rail 32 therebetween, and theroller 33 away from the claw 8 which is a roller 33 d set on a sideopposite to the claw 8 with the guide rail 32 therebetween. In thiscase, the carriage 7 can be supported by the wire 14 and the rollers 33a and 33 d without being inclined, and the reactive force can bereceived by the rollers 33 a and 33 d when forcibly discharging the card3.

[0052] Further, the claw 8 which protrudes/retracts to/from the cardcarriage path 4 by rotation is supported to this carriage 7. The claw 8has an end directed toward the card insertion opening 2 away from thesupport shaft 22, and its end is determined as a contact portion 8 awhich is upwardly inclined so as to slightly give a force in a directionalong which it lifts up the card 3 from the card carriage path 4. Thecontact portion 8 a generates a force acting to cause the claw 8 tofurther bite into the card 3 when it comes into contact wit the rear endportion 3 a of the card 3.

[0053] The claw protruding/retracting mechanism 10 whichprotrudes/retracts this claw 8 to/from the card carriage path 4 includesat least an arm 35 which is linked with the claw 8 and rotates the claw8, an impetus giving spring 25 which rotates the arm 35 and constantlypresses the claw 8 in a direction along which the claw 8 protrudes tothe card carriage path 4, and an impingement end 27 whichcounter-rotates the arm 35 against the impetus giving spring 25 andretracts the claw 8 from the card carriage path 4 when the carriage 7moves to the claw retracting position 11. The claw 8 which is rotatablyheld to the carriage 7 has a slot 40, inserts a pin 41 connected withthe arm 35 into the slot 40 and rotates the claw 8 by rotation of thearm 35. Furthermore, the arm 35 is rotatably attached to the carriage 7by a support shaft 36, and constantly pressed in a direction along whichit protrudes toward the card carriage path 4 by the impetus givingspring 25 constituted of a helical coil spring wound around the supportshaft 36. The impetus giving spring 25 has one end being in contact witha stopper 42 provided to the carriage 7 and the other end being contactwith the contact portion 26 integrally formed to the arm 35, and givesan impetus so as to protrude the arm 35 or the claw 8 to the cardcarriage path 4. Moreover, the guide rail 32 includes an impingement end27 which comes into contact with the contact portion 26 of the arm 35and turns the impetus giving spring 25 in a direction of twisting, i.e.,a direction along which the claw 8 is retracted from the card carriagepath 4 when the carriage 7 is placed at the claw retracting position 11.

[0054] Therefore, the carriage 7, the claw 8 and the arm 35 form a linkthrough a slider (consisting of a slot 40 and a connecting pin 41), andthe claw 8 is forcibly rotated by rotation of the arm 35. Additionally,when the carriage 7 is placed at the claw protruding position 12 (FIGS.9 and 10), since the contact portion 26 and the impingement end 27 aredistanced from each other, the impetus of the impetus giving spring 25is transmitted to the claw 8 through the arm 35, and the claw 8 iscaused to protrude to the card carriage path 4. Further, when thecarriage 7 is placed at the claw retracting position 11 (FIG. 8), sincethe contact portion 26 comes into contact with the impingement end 27,the arm 35 is rotated against the impetus giving spring 25, and the claw8 is retracted from the card carriage path 4.

[0055] Furthermore, to each stroke end of the carriage 7 are provided aretracting position sensor 37 which detects that the carriage 7 isplaced at the claw retracting position 11 and a protruding positionsensor 38 which detects that the carriage 7 is placed on the sideclosest to the card insertion opening 2 side at the claw protrudingposition 12. In this embodiment, a reflecting type photoelectric switchis used as each of the sensors 37 and 38. Here, the retracting positionsensor 37 is provided so as to be capable of confirming that thecarriage 7 is placed at the claw retracting position 11 and also theclaw 8 is retracted. That is, a through hole 39 is provided to thecarriage 7 in such a manner that it overlaps the claw 8 in a rotary axisdirection at a position of the claw 8 (shown in FIG. 8) retracted fromthe card carriage path 4, and that it does not overlap the claw in therotary axis direction at a position of the claw 8 (FIG. 9) protruding tothe card carriage path 4, and presence/absence of the claw 8 andexistence of the carriage 7 are detected by utilizing a fact that alight ray passing via this through hole 39 is reflected by the claw 8and returns. It is preferable that at least a surface of the carriage 7around the through hole 39 is formed as a non-reflecting surfaceblackened by applying, e.g., a coating material so as to prevent thelight from the photoelectric switch from being reflected. Since there isadopted the retracting position sensor 37 having a structure to confirmexistence of the claw 8 via the through hole 39, it is possible todetect, e.g., that the claw 8 cannot be retracted from the card carriagepath 4 for some reason even if the carriage 7 is placed at the clawretracting position 11 or that the claw 8 falls off or intentionallyremoved. Therefore, it is possible to take a countermeasure to, e.g.,stop using the card reader by performing a control such as keeping theclosed state of the shutter mechanism at the card insertion opening, orprevent erroneous detection that the claw 8 is retracted from the cardcarriage path 4.

[0056] The operation of this card forcible ejection mechanism 1 will nowbe described hereinafter. As shown in FIG. 8, when the carriage 7 isplaced at the claw retracting position 11, since the contact portion 26of the arm 35 comes into contact with the impingement end 27 of theguide rail 32, the arm 35 is rotated against the impetus giving spring25, and the claw 8 is retracted from the card carriage path 4. At thismoment, the retracting position sensor 37 detects the retraction of theclaw 8 by utilizing the light ray passing through the through hole 39 ofthe carriage 7. Then, as shown in FIG. 9, when the carriage 7 moves bymovement of the wire 14 and a pressing force from the contact portion 26to the impingement end 27 is weakened, the arm 35 is rotated by theimpetus of the impetus giving spring 25, and the claw 8 protrudes to thecard carriage path 4. Moreover, as shown in FIG. 10, the claw 8 pushesthe rear end 3 a of the card 3 by movement of the carriage 7, andforcibly discharges the card 3 so as to thrust it.

[0057] Additionally, although the carriage 7 is held by the rollers 33so as to be capable of sliding in the card forcible ejection mechanism 1illustrated in FIGS. 7 to 10, the present invention is not restrictedthereto, and a material with the excellent sliding property such aspolyacetal may be utilized as a slider without using the rotatingmembers such as the rollers 33 so that the carriage 7 can slide.Further, although the claw 8 is caused to protrude/retract by utilizingthe arm 35, the contact portion 26 and the impingement end 27 in thisembodiment, the present invention is not restricted thereto, and theclaw 8 may be caused to protrude/retract by using a cam provided to theguide rail 32.

1. A card forcible ejection mechanism which is provided to a card readerincluding a card carrying means for carrying a card inserted from a cardinsertion opening through a card carriage path, and forcibly dischargesthe card retained in the card carriage path, comprising: a carriagewhich can move along a carriage direction of the card and is providedseparately from the card carrying means; at least one claw provided tothe carriage and can protrude/retract to/from the card carriage path; acarriage moving means for moving the carriage to a claw retractingposition and a claw protruding position; and a clawprotruding/retracting mechanism which retracts the claw from the cardcarriage path when the carriage is placed at the claw retractingposition and protrudes the claw to the card carriage path when thecarriage is placed at the claw protruding position.
 2. The card forcibleejection mechanism according to claim 1, wherein the entire cardforcible mechanism is realized as a unit and attached to the cardreader.
 3. The card forcible ejection mechanism according to claim 1,wherein the card carrying means includes carriage rollers, and theentire card forcible ejection mechanism is accommodated between thecarriage rollers adjacent to each other along the carriage direction. 4.The card forcible ejection mechanism according to claim 1, wherein themechanism further comprises a shutter which opens/closes the cardinsertion opening, the claw protruding position is arranged on theshutter side away from the claw retracting position, and the card isforcibly discharged only when the shutter is in contact with theretained card and cannot be closed.
 5. The card forcible dischargemechanism according to claim 4, wherein the claw retracted from the cardcarriage path and the shutter are separated from each other by adistance corresponding to a length of at least one card in the carriagedirection.